Nursing bottle

ABSTRACT

A nursing bottle assembly including a composite bottle shell including an outer main body, a collapsible milk bag to be placed therein, a nipple provided with a special nonreturn outlet and an inner bottom member adapted to be moved slidably upward or downward by being telescopically guided by the main body. After the nipple and the milk bag containing milk are secured by a fastening ring to the mouth of the body with the opening end of the bag folded over the mouth, the bottom member is moved upward to force out the air in the bag and fill the interior of the specially constructed nipple with the milk. Due to the provision of the particular nonreturn structure of the milk outlet, inflow of air is prevented to keep the milk retained in the nipple all the time for smooth sucking action.

Unite States Patent Yamauchi 154] NURSING BOTTLE Akira Yamauchi, 121 Tatsumachi, Sasayama-cho, Taki-gun, Japan 22 Filed: Mar. 30, 1970 211 Appl.No.: 23,681

[72] Inventor:

2,546,452 3/1951 Kmieliauskas ..220/8 605,161 6/1898 Clement et al... ..128/252 2,223,179 ll/1940 Lougheed.... .....l28/252 1,144,980 6/1915 Hilton ..128/252 Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-Stephen Marcus Attorney-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack [57] ABSTRACT A nursing bottle assembly including a composite bottle shell including an outer main body, a collapsible milk bag to be placed therein, a nipple provided with a special nonreturn outlet and an inner bottom member adapted to be moved slidably upward or downward by being telescopically guided by the main body. After the nipple and the milk bag containing milk are secured by a fastening ring to the mouth of the body with the opening end of the bag folded over the mouth, the bottom member is moved upward to force out the air in the bag and fill the interior of the specially constructed nipple with the milk. Due to the provision of the particular nonreturn structure of the milk outlet, inflow of air is prevented to keep the milk retained in the nipple all the time for smooth sucking action.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures NURSING BOTTLE The present invention relates to an improvement in nursing bottles to be used generally for infants.

According to a conventional structure, a nursing bottle is provided with a nipple directly attached to the mouth of a bottle of a nonvariable shape. Another type of a nursing bottle assembly more recently in use comprises a bottle, a collapsible tubular container such'as a sack made of a polyethylene film placed in the bottle and having an opening portion adapted to be folded over the mouth of thebottle, and an annular fastening member for securing the folded portion to the mouth together with the nipple.

When a nursing bottle of the type described is used for feeding an infant, the bottle must be so positioned that the interior of the nipple is filled with milk. Accordingly, there is a need to incline the bottle sufficiently to direct the nipple downward with the face of the infant upward. In addition, the inclination of the bottle, if it is to excess, causes a greater amount of the milk to flow out to choke the infant, while if, on the other hand, the bottle is not sufiiciently inclined, outflow of the milk consequently decreases along with increase in sucking resistance. Furthermore, the conventional nursing bottle is found disadvantageous in that continuous sucking action reduces the pressure within the bottle or milk container thereby making suction difficult to cause the milk container, which is normally in cylindrical form, to wrinkle near the shoulder of the bottle during sucking action and thereby hinders flow of the milk.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a nursing bottle assembly which is provided with a bottom member adapted to be generally telescopically moved upward or downward so as to keep the interior of the nipple filled with milk without inverting the bottle, the nursing bottle assembly thus insuring feeding operation regardless of the posture of the infant to be nursed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a nursing bottle assembly which is provided with an improved nipple having an outlet of a special nonretum structure or formation for completely preventing inflow of air even when the pressure in the milk container decreases due to outflow of the milk so as to keep the interior of the bottle free of air.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary nursing bottle.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a nursing bottle which is simple in structure and convenient to carry about.

The present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing a nursing bottle of the present invention partly in elevation and partly in vertical cross section taken along the centerline;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a nipple useable in the nursing bottle of the present invention provided with an outlet of nonretum structure;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view shown in cross section taken along the line Ill-Ill in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention also shown partly in elevation and partly in vertical cross section taken along the centerline FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of an alternate nipple opening.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an outer shell designated at 1 constitutes a main body of a nursing bottle, and an inner shell or member 2 constitutes a bottom member formed substantially in cylindrical shape which is adapted to be moved slidably upward or downward by being telescopically guided by the outer shell of the main body 1 at its side wall. In the illustrated embodiment, the bottom member 2 is disposed inside the main body 1 for vertical movement in contact with the inner wall of main body 1. Designated at 3 is a mouth of the main body 1; at 4, a nipple fastening ring; at 5, a nipple provided with a particular nonretum outlet structure 6 for preventing inflow of air; and at 7, a collapsible milk bag made, for example, of a soft polyethylene film. The milk bag 7 is placed in the main body 1 with the mouth portion thereof folded over the mouth 3 of the main body 1 along its peripheral edge and the nipple fastening ring 4 is fitted over the nipple 5 placed on the folded portion so as to secure the upper end of the milk bag 7 to the mouth 3.

The structure of the nipple 5 in accordance with the present invention is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. It will be seen from these drawings that the generally designated nipple 5 is generally made of soft rubber, and embodies an enlarged open end bottle-mouth cooperating portion 5a, a generally inverted funnel-shape intermediate portion 5b connecting the portion 5a with a constricted generally oval-shape bulbous nipple end 50. The bulbous nipple end 5c further comprises a center top membrane portion 13 formed in hemispherical convex shape, has a definite predetermined radius, and is generally of much lesser thickness than the wall of the bulbous end 5c. The nipple further embodies a substantially thicker wall portion 12 surrounding the top membrane portion 13, the latter of which is formed integrally therewith and does not project in any substantial manner above the bulbous end portion.

As clearly seen in FIG. 3, the membrane 13 at its marginal juncture with the thickened wall portion 12 is enlargingly flared in both axial directions, with the axially inward margin 12a having a notably greater flared thickness than that of the axially outward margin 12b. These flared portions, particularly that of portion 12a taken in combination with the substantially thickened wall portion 12, serve not only to reenforce the nonretum outlet 6 to preclude inflow of air, but also to preclude inward collapse of the nipple-like membrane portion 13, even under increased negative pressure within the interior of the bottle assembly when in use. The top center membrane portion 13 is provided with an outlet 6 which is formed by cutting the portion vertically in at least three radial directions in a Y-shape, as shown in FIG. 5, or in the crossshape, as shown in FIG. 2.

The outlet 6 formed in this manner can be readily opened when subjected to suction externally exerted thereon, while when the interior pressure decreases, the respective parts provided by cutting are brought closer together inward with tightfit contact effected between cut surfaces, with the result that the inflow of air can be prevented with a high degree of certainty.

Indicated at 8 is a hood or nipple cover, and at the opposite end of the assembly in bottom member 2, an air venting aperture 9 is provided. In order to prevent dropping of the bottom member 2 from the main body 1, the periphery of the lower portion of the main body 1 is slightly bent inward.

To use the nursing bottle of the foregoing construction, the bottom member 2 is first brought to the lowermost position of the main body 1. The milk bag 7 with a suitable amount of milk powder placed therein previously or at the time of use is inserted into the main body 1 through the mouth 3 of the milk bottle. The upper end portion of the milk bag 7 is then folded over the peripheral edge of the mouth 3, a desired amount of hot water is poured into the bag 7, and the nipple fastening ring 4 is fitted over the folded portion of the bag 7 with the nipple 5 interposed therebetween so as to secure the folded portion to the upper peripheral edge of the main body 1.

When the bottom member 2 is slowly moved upward, the liquid level is also elevated causing the air within the milk bag to escape through the outlet 6 in the nipple 5, with the result that the interior of the nipple 5 is completely filled with milk. The nursing bottle thus prepared now enables the infant to suck the milk in an amount in proportion to the suction force regardless of the degree of inclination and the posture of the infant. Upon suction of an amount of milk, the pressure within the milk bag decreases due to reduction in the interior volume corresponding to the amount, but the nipple outlet 6 which is provided with the special nonretum structure described above perfectly prevents inflow of air to keep the interior free of air. The milk bag thereby continues to be contracted with milk retained within the nipple 5. Even when nursing is discontinued, such state is always insured for further sucking action.

- Choke-free feeding with low suction resistance is therefore inretained in the nipple 5 and another portion at the bottom of the milk bag 7 are communicated through a small passage formed between the inner faces which are brought closer toward each other, the passage consequently serving as a straw to feed the lower portion of the milk with ease and to effect complete drainage of the milk. For this reason, the difficulties heretofore encountered such as wrinkles produced beneath the shoulder of the bottle to hinder the flow of milk can be prevented for smooth and perfect nursing. The improved nursing bottle of the present invention, which precludes the inflow of air into the milk bag 7 even when sucking action is discontinued, not only enables the infant to resume sucking under the same conditions as at first, but also precludes invasion of germs to protect milk from decomposition for sanitary preservation.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention in which a longer bottom member 2' is telescopically fitted within a main body 1 of the nursing bottle. Designated at 10 is an inner projection corresponding generally to the intumed flange formed on the inner wall of the main body 1', said projection 10 disposed at the lower portion to be engaged with an outwardly projecting complemental flange-like part 11 formed on the outer wall of the bottom member 2' at its upper portion so as to keep the bottom member 2' retained in the main body 1. With this modified structure, the bottle can be provided in nearly half the volume of the bottle of a regular Size.

In addition to the advantages described, the nursing bottle of the present invention is simple in structure and economical to manufacture.

What is claimed is:

l. A composite nursing bottle assembly comprising a collapsible liquid-holding bag housed within generally cylindrical shaped outer and inner telescopically movable bottle shell members of which the outer shell has a bottle mouth for holding the mouth of the collapsible bag in association with nipple means applied thereto, and the inner shell member has an apertured transverse bottom for helping to support, vent and collapse the collapsible bag when initiating nursing use, said nipple means comprising a nipple composed of a rubber or similar essentially permanently elastic material having one enlarged open-end bottle-mouth-cooperating portion, a generally funnel-shaped intermediate portion connecting said first-mentioned portion with a constricted generally ovalshaped nipple end portion having a bulbous body portion and punctured so as to form a nursing fluid-passing outlet of an improved self-closing character when not in use, regardless of the attitude of the nursing bottle, said nipple punctured end comprising a small generally hemispherically convex-shaped punctured membrane formed of substantially thinner material than the rest of the bulbous body portion, the material of the bulbous portion in the area directly adjacent and completely surrounding an outer margin of said membrane being substantially thicker than that of said bulbous body portion, said membrane having a thicker radially flaring peripheral margin connecting it with said substantially thicker area of the bulbous portion, said membrane thicker peripheral margin being flared in both an axially inward and axially outward manner with said axially inward flared margin having a thickness greater than said axially outward flared margin, said thicker flared marginal portion of said membrane together with the substantially thicker portion of the bulbous body portion surrounding said membrane collectively serving to give added strength thereto to preclude inwardly collapse of said nipple and membrane portion, even when subjected to a negative pressure from wlthm the assembled bottle and nipple,

whereby the fluid outlet closes in a tighter, more efiective leakproof manner; and wherein said hemispherically convex membrane portion is at least partially recessed below the exterior bulbous surface of the nipple at least in its marginal area connecting it with said thicker portion of the bulbous body portion, thereby forming a smaller scale hemispherical nipplelike fluid-passing portion within the exterior bulbous portion of the nipple.

2. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said nipple membrane is punctured in at least three radially diverse directions such as in a generally Y shape to form a valve of said improved self-closing character for passage of the nursing fluid when sucked upon.

3. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said nipple membrane is punctured by cutting through same diametrically in two directions at apart to form a valve of said self-closing character for passage of the nursing fluid when sucked upon.

4. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said apertured transverse bottom of said inner telescopic bottle shell member is provided with a central venting aperture serving to facilitate venting expulsion of air from the bag as held by and responsive to telescopic movement of the composite bottle shell members.

5. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said convex membrane portion does not project substantially beyond the outer surface of the bulbous body nipple end portion.

6. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein saidouter shell has a relatively large open mouth upper portion and an open bottom lower portion, and the inner shell member has a generally circular planar bottom with annular side walls projecting therefrom, but is of lesser axial length than said outer shell member to facilitate its axial telescopical movement with said outer shell; said collapsible liquid-holding bag being formed of a flexible plastic film material and nested within said bottle shells and generally supported on said inner bottom shell member, said bag having its open end engaged over the open mouth portion of said outer shell, and fastening ring means mounting said nipple on the mouth of said bottle shell with part of said flexible bag mouth portion interposed between said nipple and open mouth portion of the shell, and said planar bottom of said inner telescopic member having a generally centrally disposed venting aperture to facilitate the expulsion of air from the bag as held by and responsive to telescopic movement toward each other of the composite shell bottle members. 

1. A composite nursing bottle assembly comprising a collapsible liquid-holding bag housed within generally cylindrical shaped outer and inner telescopically movable bottle shell members of which the outer shell has a bottle mouth for holding the mouth of the collapsible bag in association with nipple means applied thereto, and the inner shell member has an apertured transverse bottom for helping to support, vent and collapse the collapsible bag when initiating nursing use, said nipple means comprising a nipple composed of a rubber or similar essentially permanently elastic material having one enlarged open-end bottle-mouthcooperating portion, a generally funnel-shaped intermediate portion connecting said first-mentioned portion with a constricted generally oval-shaped nipple end portion having a bulbous body portion and punctured so as to form a nursing fluidpassing outlet of an improved self-closing character when not in use, regardless of the attitude of the nursing bottle, said nipple punctured end comprising a small generally hemispherically convex-shaped punctured membrane formed of substantially thinner material than the rest of the bulbous body portion, the material of the bulbous portion in the area directly adjacent and completely surrounding an outer margin of said membrane being substantially thicker than that of said bulbous body portion, said membrane having a thicker radially flaring peripheral margin connecting it with said substantially thicker area of the bulbous portion, said membrane thicker peripheral margin being flared in both an axially inward and axially outward manner with said axially inward flared margin having a thickness greater than said axially outward flared margin, said thicker flared marginal portion of said membrane together with the substantially thicker portion of the bulbous body portion surrounding said membrane collectively serving to give added strength thereto to preclude inwardly collapse of said nipple and membrane portion, even when subjected to a negative pressure from within the assembled bottle and nipple, whereby the fluid outlet closes in a tighter, more effective leakproof manner; and wherein said hemispherically convex membrane portion is at least partially recessed below the exterior bulbous surface of the nipple at least in its marginal area connecting it with said thicker portion of the bulbous body portion, thereby forming a smaller scale hemispherical nipplelike fluid-passing portion within the exterior bulbous portion of the nipple.
 2. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said nipple membrane is punctured in at least three radially diverse directions such as in a generally Y shape to form a valve of said improved self-closing character for passage of the nursing fluid when sucked upon.
 3. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said nipple membrane is punctured by cutting through same diametrically in two directions at 90* apart to form a valve of said self-closing character for passage of the nursing fluid when sucked upon.
 4. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said apertured transverse bottom of said inner telescopic bottle shell member is provided with a central venting aperture serving to facilitate venting expulsion of air from the bag as held by and responsive to telescopic movement of the composite bottle shell members.
 5. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said convex membrane portion does not project substantially beyond the outer surface of the bulbous body nipple end portion.
 6. A nursing bottle assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said outer shell has a relatively large open mouth upper portion and an open bottom lower portion, and the inner shell member has a generally circular planar bottom with annular side walls projecting therefrom, but is of lesser axial length than said outer shell meMber to facilitate its axial telescopical movement with said outer shell; said collapsible liquid-holding bag being formed of a flexible plastic film material and nested within said bottle shells and generally supported on said inner bottom shell member, said bag having its open end engaged over the open mouth portion of said outer bottle shell, and fastening ring means mounting said nipple on the mouth of said bottle shell with part of said flexible bag mouth portion interposed between said nipple and open mouth portion of the shell, and said planar bottom of said inner telescopic member having a generally centrally disposed venting aperture to facilitate the expulsion of air from the bag as held by and responsive to telescopic movement toward each other of the composite shell bottle members. 